New Top Cow Direct Market Liason Atom! Freeman told ICv2 that three new programs have been launched in his brief tenure in the role.

The first is the Retailer Reader Challenge, which began as a program for ComicsPro members but has now expanded to include all retailers. The goal is to expose retailers to Top Cow’s line and inform their sales of its books. Top Cow will send interested retailers six different comics from its line; the retailer is asked to read at least three of the titles and talk to Freeman about them. Participants receive $100 worth of Top Cow graphic novels free.

The second is Good as Gold, an inventory exchange program designed to build confidence in ordering Top Cow books. Direct market retailers that end up with unsold Top Cow inventory can exchange it directly with Top Cow for trade paperbacks. This is not currently planned as a temporary or limited program.

Top Cow’s third retailer program is designed to encourage Top Cow endcaps, which are rewarded with materials to assist in merchandising the company’s titles.

Freeman said that the programs reflect his own experience with Top Cow, and that his perception of the company had changed. “My biggest moment was when I realized that they were doing quality that I hadn’t seen out of them,” he said. “I’d made up my mind a long time ago that they do a certain kind of book, but Top Cow makes high quality stories.” He characterized the target demo of the line as both male and female readers aged 30-40. “Top Cow crosses the gender divide better than any other superhero publisher,” he said, “with titles like Magdalena, Velocity, and Artifacts.”